Public safety meetings off er Benton residents a voice in city's future

The Benton Citizens Public Safety Committee has been studying the status of the city's police, fire and emergency services and their future.

Members of the panel were given in fall 2007 the task of determining the condition of public safety in the city and where it should be five, 10 and even 20 years down the road.

Serving on the committee are Dave Mattingly, chairman; Carolyn Boone; Don Birdsong; Mary Kay Mooney; Bill Hampton; Robert Edwards; Winifred K. Stamps; Police Chief Gary Sipes; Fire Chief Ben Blankenship; and Jeffrey T. Walker, a University of Arkansas at Little Rock criminal justice professor who has served as moderator at most meetings and will assist in the writing of the group's final report.

The committee holds its first town-hall meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Gene Moss Building in Tyndall Park. Members will offer a preview of what the CPSC study has found and give them a chance to exchange ideas with Benton residents about police, fire and emergency service.

Other scheduled meetings include one at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 10, at First Assembly of God, 1801 Hot Springs Highway (Arkansas 5 South); 7 p.m., Thursday, April 17, City Council Chambers, Benton City Hall, 114 S. East St. A meeting will be held for residents of the south side of the city, but has not been scheduled.

The Citizens Public Safety Committee is one of the best things to come out of the Benton City Council in quite some time. It is a step in the right direction for a council that has not been known for looking forward.

It appears that the process has been one of stops and starts - for council members, certainly, and perhaps for committee members as they try to feel their way along and discover what their role and that of the committee should be.

Still, the process and the meetings that have resulted are a wonderful opportunity for Benton residents to learn about what the people who protect them face and what the prospects are for improvement. In addition, the public gets the chance to tell someone who will listen what they think about the situation.

We urge all residents who can make one of the meetings to do so and take part in making Benton a safer place. Such participation will make this a better place to live, play and work.